1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic device having network auto-switching functions and a network auto-switching method utilized in an electronic device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The current high definition multimedia interface (HDMI) version 1.4 has a new function named HDMI Ethernet and Audio return Channel (HEAC), where the HEAC function can make a network receiver to transmit/receive HDMI Ethernet Channel (HEC) data signals and Audio Return Channel (ARC) data signals simultaneously. Therefore, the HDMI cable can be utilized to replace the conventional Ethernet cable.
Current system-provider companies (such as system-provider companies of the notebook computer or the Digital Versatile Disc (DVD) player) can not be sure that whether the customer's HDMI supports HDMI version 1.4 and Ethernet transmission, and thus the current system-provider companies will reserve the conventional Ethernet connector and the HDMI connector with the Ethernet function in the hardware. However, the current system-provider companies do not provide a function of automatically switching between two different network connecting modes mentioned above, and two media access control (MAC) layer control circuits and two physical layer (PHY) control circuits are required to be respectively set up in the hardware, and thus the hardware cost are increased a lot as the result.